Not seen in London since 1983, New York City Ballet (NYCB) is one of the foremost dance companies in the world. From Wednesday 12th – Saturday 22nd March, the company will present four programmes of work drawn from its rich and diverse repertoire.

What is now known as New York City Ballet was the idea of Lincoln Kirstein, who envisaged an American ballet where young dancers could be trained and schooled under the guidance of the greatest ballet masters. When he met George Balanchine in London in 1933, Kirstein knew he had found the right person for his dream. In 1933 Balanchine travelled to America at Kirstein’s invitation, and in 1934 the two men opened the School of American Ballet, where Balanchine trained dancers in an innovative style and technique that matched his idea of a new, unmannered classicism.

In 1946 Kirstein and Balanchine formed Ballet Society and presented their new company at the City Center of Music and Drama in New York. After seeing a Ballet Society performance, the chairman of the City Center invited Balanchine and Kirstein’s fledgling company to officially join the performing arts center, and on October 11, 1948, New York City Ballet was born with a performance that featured Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Orpheus and Symphony in C. In 1949 Jerome Robbins joined the Company as associate director and, with Balanchine, created a varied repertory that grew each season.

Balanchine served as Ballet Master of New York City Ballet from its inception until his death, in 1983, and he choreographed countless works and created a company of dancers known for their linear purity, sharpness of attack, and overall speed and musicality. In 1964 NYCB moved into its current home at Lincoln Center’s New York State Theater, where it grew into one of the world’s great dance companies.

Following Balanchine’s death in 1983, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins shared the title of Co-Ballet Masters in Chief, and since 1990 Martins has assumed sole responsibility for the Company’s operations. Like Balanchine, Martins believes that choreographic exploration is what sustains excellence in the Company and in the art form itself, and NYCB continues to present new work through such initiatives as the Diamond Project. The Company has an unparalleled active repertory of more than 150 works, 90% of which were choreographed in the latter half of the 20th century by Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, and others. Widely acknowledged for its enduring contributions to dance, NYCB is committed to promoting creative excellence and nurturing a new generation of dancers and choreographers.

Solely responsible for training its own artists in the classical style and for creating its own repertory, NYCB performs annual seasons at its two permanent homes, the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, and also tours domestically and internationally.

That is good news! And terrific that the venue is the Coliseum, which has vastly superior sightlines than the Royal Opera House, making it the premiere theatre for large scale classical ballet in London.

In case anyone is wondering, booking is still not open for NYCB, and looks like it will be delayed at least another week. I understand that the programmes are still being finalised. I'll post more when I know more!

NYCB must have finally worked out some touring deal with their orchestra. Excellent news. Now the rest of the world can see this great dance institution. I am a bit envious of you all on the far side of the pond. Kate, Stuart will you go?

Not sure because I could be back in the US by then or madly prepping for my PhD viva or even gainfully employed (fancy that!). Which means that I can't really afford to request press tickets or pay for tickets so far in advance, not knowing my whereabouts at that point.

I don't think NYCB has had any international touring issues with the orchestra for a while. They've been to the Edinburgh Festival a couple of times in the last decade as well as to other locations, and I think they often use local orchestras abroad anyway. I would suspect, especially with the increased cost and hassle of visas, that they'd use one of the many London based orchestras who regularly accompany foreign companies. (That said, my guess is that not all the dancers will make the trip - only those needed for the pieces being peformed. Fortunately, unlike ABT, I don't think NYCB has very many dancers who are non US citizens/permanent residents and thus need more immigrations paperwork. And the Danes/Spaniards/French wouldn't be a problem anyway as they have freedom to work anywhere in the EU)

The issues with the orchestra were over regional touring in the US, and were what scuppered performing at the Kennedy Center for so long. As I remember, the contract said that the orchestra would go when performances were within a certain mile radius of NYC. Washington DC was within that radius, but I think there was some to do about the Kennedy Center orchestra being used. They worked out a compromise where the NYCB Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Orchestra alternate years.

Wendy Whelan, Principal Dancer with the New York City Ballet, has been nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for her performance in Christopher Wheeldon's "Fool's Paradise" as part of the inaugural season of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company at Sadler's Wells.

Whelan, who has danced with the New York City Ballet since 1984, rising to rank of Principal in 1991, will feature in the company's upcoming season at the London Coliseum (details above).

The other nominees are:
Savion Glover for his performance in "Live" for London at Sadler's Wells;
Jonathan Goddard for his performances with the Richard Alston Dance Company at Sadler's Wells; and
The Royal Ballet Company for their performances in Jewels.

After 15 years as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, Nikolaj Hübbe recently retired to take up a new role as Artistic Director at the Royal Danish Ballet. Hübbe will however return to the company and perform for one special performance only, as a guest artist in the company’s upcoming visit to London as part of the Spring Dance at the London Coliseum season.

On Tuesday, March 18th he will dance in "Zakouski", a piece Peter Martins choreographed for him when he first joined NYCB in 1992 as a principal dancer.

Well, the London critics seem to either love or hate NYCB. And some seem not to have much concept of what to expect from NYCB - such as the critic who was moaning about the lack of straight lines in 'Symphony in C' - yes? And this would be unusual for NYCB...

Anyway, there's a great series of short videos being posted about the trip on the NYCB website:http://www.nycballet.com/nycbontour/london/index.html

One video confirms that the company - or rather the company's sets - did have troubles because of the weather. Apparently, 3 of the 4 shipping containers were stuck on a ship that couldn't be unloaded because of the high winds (they were up to 84mph in the south of England and strong enough up here to blow over lorries), and the air shipped containers were also delayed.

It would appear that they did get the sets for the opening night, though given the negative reviews about the Symphony in C tutus (which I absolutely adore), maybe they didn't...

Christopher Wheeldon’s “Carousel (A Dance)” was created in 2002, one of a number of ballets made to celebrate the centenary of composer Richard Rogers’ birth. Since then, Wheeldon has dispensed with the outline of a ferris wheel projected on to the backcloth, replacing it with a simple but highly effective string of fairy lights. The fairground image is strengthened even more by Wheeldon’s formations for the corps, most often seen moving in a circle that seems to get faster and faster. At one point he even has the women sitting on the men’s shoulders holding gold coloured poles, very much suggesting merry-go-round horses. It’s very obvious but it works.

The ballet draws heavily on the romance of the Rogers and Hammerstein movie. However while not a dance-drama as such, there is more than a hint of story, especially in the central duet and Roger’s evocative music, most notably “If I loved you”. It’s a story that’s not really a story.

Damien Woetzel and Tiler Peck were nicely matched as the couple. Woetzel seemed totally consumed by his desire for his love. Peck appeared rather more shy, almost uneasy at his attentions, which gave the dance something of an edge. At first he just watches her, she inside the corps swirling circle, him outside. It’s like they meet for the first time, she unsure of his intentions. Eventually they meet for a duet. At first it’s as if she has already fallen for her suitor but isn’t really sure whether she should have. As truth dawns the dance grows in intensity. Typically, Wheeldon makes great use of the floor, and while lifts are relatively rare, when they do come they are typically difficult and interesting, never safe but always secure. Suddenly the carousel returns, but the spell is not broken and our couple reappear. Since it’s not really a story, perhaps it’s appropriate that there’s not really an end. The girl exits, pursued again by the man, leaving us all wondering what happens next.

Unfortunately the planned final appearance of Nikolaj Hubbe in “Zakouski” did not happen, Andrew Veyette partnered by Yvonne Borree appearing in his place. Peter Martins is something of a maligned choreographer, one of those people unfortunate to always be spoken of in terms of what he is not (i.e. another Balanchine) rather than what he is. Having said that, on this showing “Zakouski” is not one of his better works.

The work is danced to selections from a number of Russian composers. Apparently the work is supposed to explore the emotions in the music. There was little sign of any emotional connection here though. Borree was quite sharp with neat, precise technique, but Veyette was quite the opposite. And Barbara Matera’s costumes were truly awful. The combination of vivid pinks, reds, blues, greys, and lavenders are a nightmare and quite simply do not work.

Things picked up with Mauro Bigonzetti’s “In Vento”, which literally means ‘in the wind’. The work opens with a single male dancer, on the floor, legs and arms stretched wide. Others then appear from the darkness behind, the men in black trousers but bare-chested, the women in sexy, slinky, very low back almost sheer black leotards and black pointe shoes. The whole work has a wonderful intensity, helped along enormously by Bruno Moretti’s commissioned atmospheric score and Mark Stanley’s mix of light and shadow.

The title suggests that the choreography is about the force of the wind or nature. Indeed, there are times when they form human chains, holding hands and moving as if being blown around by the wind or some other unseen force. But on the whole it seems to be more simply a reaction to the music. There’s lots of angularity, floor work but also some great turns and lifts. The dancers are generally anonymous and faceless, although at one point, a woman is disgorged from the group for a spellbinding solo that includes one especially arresting moment when she turns to the back to reveal the plunging back of her leotard. The whole was incredibly magnetic and beautiful.

The programme concluded with Alexi Ratmansky’s “Russian Seasons”, danced to Lenoid Desyatnikov’s twelve-part score for string orchestra, solo violin and soprano. The work uses elements of folk and jazz dance and has its moments. The music progresses through the seasonal and Russian Orthodox liturgical calendars, but the stories told in each of the dances do not always literally reflect the sung passages. For example, a girl in orange picks flowers and mourns, as the singer recounts the story of a husband lost at war. Dancers are sometimes humorous, sometimes soulful. It doesn’t always work but Ratmansky certainly knows how to send things. At the end of the ballet, a couple come on dressed in white. As the song talks of while wanting as much as we can, all we really need is a small piece of land and four walls, the couple walks off as the others look on.

It’s an interesting piece that will probably benefit from a second viewing. It was certainly well sung by Irina Rindzuner. Sadly, the costumes were again less than satisfactory. They were a modern take on Russian folk dress, and here the mix of vibrant colours did work, but the men’s boots looked horrible indeed, and the less said about the pill-box style hats of the women the better.

Last edited by David on Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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